This
cartoon mocks the training day of a small-town militia.Its rag-tag members are armed with a pitchfork, umbrella, hoe,
broom, and other substandard equipment, while their inebriated leader
stumbles out of the saloon, wielding an indented sword.Rather than military discipline and seriousness, the social
atmosphere of the training day is one of disorder and jocularity.The cartoon was published shortly after the election of Abraham
Lincoln as threats of secession were increasingly voiced.It may have been intended partly as a humorous prod toward
military preparedness, but, more likely, it is simply a continuation of
the newspaper’s previous treatment of local militia.

In addition to state militia in
nineteenth-century America, most communities, large and small, had local
militia, also known as target companies.More populous cities had several target companies, often
organized along ethnic, professional, or political lines.The first target companies appeared in New York City in the
1830s, and numbered tens of thousands of members by the 1850s.The city was home to a Jewish militia (the Asmonean Guards) and
an Irish one (the Meagher Guards), along with groups established by
factories and shipyards, and many affiliated with the Democratic Party.The Americus Engine Company No. 6 sponsored the William M. Tweed
Guards, named after the foreman of the volunteer fire company who later
became the notorious political boss of Tammany Hall.

Militia members usually elected
their own officers and established their own rules.It was often the responsibility of the more prosperous members to
provide uniforms, arms, and meals for the members. In
this cartoon, the poor state of the rural community leaves its members
without adequate supplies.A
primary function of the target companies was social, and drunkenness (as
depicted here) was a typical feature of their “excursions.”Harper’s Weekly gently poked fun not only at the rural
militia in this cartoon, but at a New York City target company in an
illustrated front-page story (1858) in which the reporter observed the
organization’s primary function to be eating and drinking.Some target companies were upfront about this activity, naming
themselves the Chowder Guards and the Epicurean Guards.Their heavy drinking, in particular, generated quite a bit of
negative press, but the target companies often served well in the War of
1812, the War with Mexico (1846-1848), and the Civil War (1861-1865).

Harper’s Weekly was
more favorably disposed toward two impressive militia that toured New
York City in 1860, the Chicago Zouaves and the Savannah Blues.Organized by E. Elmer Ellsworth, the Chicago Zouaves were modeled
after the French infantry units in Algeria.Touring the United States in 1860, the Chicago Zouaves attracted
large crowds with their colorful uniforms (e.g., baggy pants and fez)
and military precision.Covering
their arrival in New York in July, the newspaper noted positively that
the company’s rules forbid Zouaves from drinking or entering saloons
or brothels.A month later,
the Savannah Blues received even greater praise:“We have seldom been visited by a military company which has
attracted more attention or won higher respect among our people.”

At the end of the Civil War,
former soldiers expanded the ranks of target companies to their highest
level of membership.However,
press criticism in New York renewed in the late 1860s and early 1870s
over the militia’s rowdiness and political character.The New York Times alleged that target companies
blackmailed businessmen and politicians.In January 1871, Harper’s Weekly asserted that the
target companies in New York City exhibited “a wretched perversion of
an originally good purpose.Most
of them bear a quasi-political character, and the members are, in fact,
nothing more than election brawlers for some local demagogue” Thus, an
aspiring politician could provide uniforms, rifles, and alcohol to a
group of men, who then used strong-arm tactics to enforce his will at
the ballot box.Coming at
the height of the Tweed Ring power, this condemnation had particular
potency.The undisciplined involvement of target companies and the
state militia on opposite sides of the Orange Riot
in July
1871 helped provoke the formation a few months later of the National
Rifle Association, which was dedicated to improving marksmanship,
discipline, and firearm safety.